News archive (2 / 2021)

Neato is one of the largest and oldest manufacturers of robotic vacuums. Company was founded back in 2005 and is based in California, United States. Company products are mostly manufactured in China, but designed in the U.S.

Back in 2017 Neato was sold to a German Vorwerk, but continues to operate as an independent company, despite being fully-owned by Vorwerk. Neato's current product line consists several different robot vacuum models and it is quite confusing to know what is the difference between each model.

In this article we try to clarify how different Neato models differ from each other. And also to shine light to some oddities in product names found globally with Neato's products. We have reviewed and tested most current Neato models, so this analysis is based on tech specs and our own review findings.

1. Similarities
2. Difference with Neato filters
3. WiFi frequency
4. Sidebrush
5. Boundary markers
6. Turbo / Eco mode
7. Main brushes
8. Battery life differences
9. Number of floorplans supported
10. Zone cleaning
11. Price
12. Neato D3 vs Neato D4
13. Neato D4 vs Neato D5
14. Neato D5 vs Neato D6
15. Neato D6 vs Neato D7
16. Neato Plus models (Neato D4+, etc)
17. Comparison chart of Neato models
18. More to read

Users of Android TV and Google TV set-top devices can use Amazon Music properly from today.

Amazon Music is now available for set-top boxes and other devices running Android TV or Google TV from today with the release of an updated app. Until now, Amazon Music on Android TV has been restricted to the Nvidia Shield TV, while more limited casting could be performed from Android mobile devices.

For now, the rollout of the app is limited to the U.S., U.K., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, and Australia. It is available for both premium and free users. Premium users have full ad-free access to their library, similar to rivals like Spotify.

Users with no premium account can access ad-supported playlists and radio stations.

You can get the Amazon Music app for Android TV and Google TV from the Play Store.

Niantic has targeted more than five million players identified by its anti-cheat system, some of whom have received permanent bans.

The developer has provided details on actions it has taken against players of Pokemon Go, Ingress, and Harry Potter Wizards Unite. In total, more than five million have been targeted since last year, and of them, around 20 percent have been banned permanently for persistent offenses.

"More than 90% of users who received their first warning, stopped cheating afterward. This is quite encouraging for us, as we continue to find the right balance between punishing casual cheaters versus the more egregious ones," the developer wrote on a blog.

"We are committed to ensuring fair gameplay across our game portfolio. Every day newer forms of cheating or spoofing tools are made available on the internet, and we are continuously working to combat these cheaters and focus on improving our detection and enforcement; as they have no place in our games."

Niantic has also reminded players only to download the official versions of its games from Google Play, the Apple App Store, and Samsung Galaxy Store. Furthermore, it stresses that jailbroken and rooted devices are unsupported.

Samsung used to be the pariah of Android world for many years, as it was reluctant to deliver Android updates to even its relatively recent phone models. Since last year, company has improved dramatically - and now pushes the envelope even further.

This week, Samsung announced that most of its Android phones and tables will receive Android security updates for four years after their initial release. This, coupled to the fact that Samsung made a huge change to its Android major update policy last fall, will make the Korean manufacturer much more competitive in Android world.

Furthermore, Samsung promises to deliver four years worth of security updates to even select models from 2019. Company previously had promised only two years of security updates, even for its most expensive phones.

To summarize Samsung's new Android update and security patch policy:

• Galaxy S series, Galaxy Fold series, Galaxy Tab S series, Galaxy A series and Galaxy Note series will get three major Android operating system updates during their lifetime. This means, for example, that Samsung Galaxy S20, which launched with Android 10, will get Android 11, Android 12 and Android 13 updates.
• Most of the Samsung's mid-priced and high-end phones will get four years of Android security patches. These include Galaxy S series, Galaxy Fold series, Galaxy Tab S series, Galaxy A series, Galaxy M series, Galaxy Xcover series, Galaxy Tab A series and Galaxy Note series. Only the low-end phones will be excluded.
• High-end phones will get security patches monthly, while mid-priced phones will get quarterly patches.

Samsung is obviously hoping that long support time and fast Android updates will benefit its marketing - and they probably will. As of now, Samsung is doing pretty well in our Android 11 update tracker.

Microsoft announced that it will release a new feature for its new console that will probably make gamers quite happy.

The new Xbox Series X|S console will run select Xbox One titles more smoothly that Xbox One was ever capable of. The new feature, dubbed as FPS Boost will do the magic here.

FPS Boost will improve game smoothness by increasing significantly the frames per second the console outputs to the TV. For most FPS Boost enabled titles the increase will be double, but for some titles, the framerate will increase by 4x, when compared to Xbox One.

Obviously, such feature is most sought-after for first-person shooters and other heavy, graphic quick action games. This is highlighted by the list of titles that will get the FPS Boost first: ar Cry 4, New Super Lucky's Tale, Sniper Elite 4, UFC 4, and Watch Dogs 2.

Microsoft plans to bring FPS Boost to more games over the spring. Each game that will get the feature will have an option within game's settings to turn on the FPS Boost feature. If it is in use, the info will also be shown on game screen when game is paused.

Many of the younger generation can't even figure when was the last time that Microsoft Windows wasn't the de facto home computer operating system. Since the launch of Windows 95 26 years ago, Windows has dominated the desktop OS game without any real challengers.

Many remember the early 2000s when there was hope that one day Linux might truly challenge Windows on desktops. Didn't happen. Only Apple's macOS has managed to carve some kind of market share - and even that is mostly in United States and handful of other countries.

However, things have changed - quite dramatically - over the last few years: Chromebooks have finally managed to create a viable alternative to Windows dominance. Sure, that is mostly in budget-friendly laptops, but it is still a feat that no one else has managed to do in decades.

Recent statistics from TrendForce claim that in year 2020, Windows market share in notebook computers dropped below 80 percent, first time since mid 1990s. TrendForce also expects the slide to continue in 2021, with Windows marketshare slipping to 70 - 75 percent.